Experience the people, places, and stories of historic Minneapolis
Join scholars for an in-depth look at topics in Minneapolis history. These in-person and virtually hosted lectures last approximately one hour. Pre-registration is required.
NEW FOR 2023-2024 – REGISTER TODAY!
Saving St. Anthony Falls
Friday, November 17, 2023, 7 p.m.
John Anfinson, Ph.D.
LIVE at Mill City Museum — 704 South 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55401
Dr. Anfinson has been researching, writing, and speaking about the upper Mississippi River for over 35 years, first as district historian and cultural resources program manager of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later in roles including superintendent for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. Since 2022, he has been a guest speaker on American Cruise Lines boats on the Mississippi River. His lecture will focus on the history of and problems with the massive “Cutoff Wall” that literally holds up St. Anthony Falls and which has not been seen or inspected since 1876.
Cost: Pay as you can at the door.
Click HERE to register.
The Secret Life of an Architecture Critic
Thursday, December 7, 7 p.m.
Linda Mack, former architecture critic, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Presented virtually on Zoom
While covering Twin Cities architecture for the Star Tribune for 20+ years, Linda kept us well informed on all major developments in our built environment. But in this lecture, she will reveal behind-the-scenes stories that didn’t make it into the Strib, including why Ken Dayton chose an architect other than Philip Johnson to design his house in Wayzata, a mistaken color for the new Guthrie Theater, and the thorny question: What really is the tallest building in Minneapolis?
Free. Donations to Preserve Minneapolis are welcome.
Rising: African Descendant Settlement and Citizenship Initiative in Minnesota, 1860 – 1870
Saturday , January 20, 2 p.m.
Judge (retired) LaJune Lange, J.D.
LIVE at Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church – 2600 E 38th St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
Judge Lange will speak on efforts in the 1860s to secure voting rights for African Americans with a focus on the Longfellow neighborhood and Sergeant John Wesley Harper of the 25th US Army Infantry. The lecture will be presented with exhibit panels and a short documentary film entitled “Longfellow: Our Journey.” LaJune Lange, J.D., is the founder and president of the LaJune Thomas Lange International Leadership Institute, which helps in many ways to improve the lives of people around the world. She also has been instrumental in adding the history of African Americans to presentations by the Minnesota History Center at Fort Snelling.
Cost: Pay as you can at the door.
Click HERE to register.
Architecture, Art, and Faith Bridging the North Minneapolis Jewish and Black Communities: Preserving a Unique Building and Re-establishing Connections
Tuesday, February 13, 7 p.m.
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Ph.D.
Presented virtually on Zoom
Dr. Halgren Kilde will speak on the history of a unique building in North Minneapolis and the effort to nominate it to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1926, Tifereth B’nai Jacob (Glory of the Sons of Jacob), an orthodox Jewish congregation in North Minneapolis worked with local architect Perry Crosier to erect their new synagogue. Six years later when a fire destroyed part of the building, the congregation rebuilt and repainted the interior along lines reminiscent of synagogues in their Bessarabian homeland, with trompe l’oeil artwork and a full set of zodiac signs emblazoned on the fascia of the balcony. In 1957, they sold the building to the First Church of God in Christ, a Black Holiness-Pentecostal congregation, which still owns the building, and over the past six decades has carefully preserved the original interior, curating the unique artwork.
Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Ph.D., is the Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of Minnesota. As a cultural historian of religion, her research explores the role of spaces and buildings in religious life and experience. She is the author of several books, including Sacred Power, Sacred Space: An Introduction to Christian Architecture (Oxford 2008). She currently co-leads research for Twin Cities Houses of Worship-1849-1924, a digital research project mapping the religious landscape of Minneapolis and Saint Paul neighborhoods to understand how religious and ethnic groups in this early immigration period interacted.
Free. Donations to Preserve Minneapolis are welcome.
Past topics include:
– Minneapolis Warehouse District
– Peavey Plaza
– Fort Snelling Upper Post
Archaeology for the Renovation of Fort Snelling
Preserve Minneapolis Lecture Series 2023: Dr. Nienow, owner and principal at Nienow Cultural Consultants (NCC), and Matt Flueger, Fort Snelling historian, discuss NCC’s two years of archaeological monitoring in support of the renovation at Fort Snelling’s Upper Post. Jeremy and Matt will discuss interesting archaeological and historical discoveries made along the way and the challenges encountered in completing this daunting project.
Learn more about their work at: https://nccarchaeology.com
Share Your knowledge – Be a Lecturer
We’re always accepting applications for lecturers. All lecture topics must be related to preservation of historic and/or cultural resources in Minneapolis. In addition, all lectures must be no more than one hour, including 10 minutes for Q&A.
Preserve Minneapolis will pay each lecturer a $250 honorarium.
Submit a proposal, of no more than 300 words, to Preserve Minneapolis Lecture Series Sub-Committee,
Please include the following in your proposal:
- Your name
- Your professional position and/or affiliation
- The title of your proposed lecture
- A summary of the content of your proposed lecture, including a brief description of the visuals you will use.
- Tell us why you are the right person to present this lecture.
- Your resume or curriculum vitae